Sermon - April 1

Pilgrims on the Road
April 1, 2007
Rockland Drive United Baptist Church

Living Under Poor Leadership

We’ve all heard stories of life under terrible leadership. Names like Hitler, Mussolini, and Hussein might perhaps cause us to breathe a sigh of relief that we live where we do. Novelists like George Orwell and Ray Bradbury have depicted societies ruled by bad leaders, and their vision does nothing to make us feel less appreciative of living as we do in a Western democracy.

But perhaps we are unaware of another rule over our lives. Perhaps we think we’ve seen what a good society is all about. Perhaps we like what we seen. The Bible points us, however, to recognizing corrupt rule in our lives and offers a solution to the situation.

The Replacement King

There is a story in the Old Testament about a particularly bad time in the kingdom of Israel. Evil is just running amok. People are living under the tyranny of the family of the wicked king Ahab, who with his wife Jezebel led the people into all kinds of idolatry and disobedience to the LORD. In addition to that, there is violence in the land, a brutal and harsh violence that would have innocent people like Naboth (see 1 Kings 21) slandered and killed in order for the king to have more luxury. What an awful rule to live under.

The LORD sees the situation, of course, and tells the prophet Elisha to send one of his associates to go and find one of the commanders of the land. The purpose of this search is to anoint the commander, Jehu, as king. Jehu is to be the king that will end the years of struggle and hardship.

The prophetic messenger does as he is told, which entails quickly delivering his message and literally running out of the room as soon as he’s done. (God seems not to mind having his people occasionally look like lunatics in his service.) The whole job is done in such a bizarre manner as to make Jehu’s friends ask what’s going on. He at first tells them, “You know what people like him are like, the kinds of things they say.” They say, “No, actually, we don’t – what did he say?” and Jehu decides to tell them that he has been anointed and declared to be the king. They immediately, and probably unexpectedly in Jehu’s mind, take off their cloaks and spread them on the ground where he walks, proclaiming, “Jehu is King!”

There is a story in the New Testament about a replacement king, the anointed one who will lead his people out from under the oppression of a wicked kingdom, and for whom a procession lined with cloaks was also prepared as he was declared to be the king. This king is Jesus. The story can be found in Luke 19:28-40.

Jesus, the Proclaimed King

The first thing we may notice about this passage is the joy in the people’s hearts and on their lips as they give glory to God as Jesus walks the street heading toward Jerusalem. He is proclaimed King: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

This phrase comes from Psalm 118, where the people welcome one coming in the LORD’s name into Jerusalem. Some interpreters have seen this as a welcome given to pilgrims coming to Jerusalem, while most will recognize that there is something deeper hoped for in that passage as well. So what we find we’re looking at here in Luke 19 is a group of pilgrims walking together in the train of one unique pilgrim, proclaiming him to be the “king who comes in the name of the Lord.”

We seem to know instinctively as we read this passage that we want to join the throng of pilgrims welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem as king. Just as we know that we don’t want to identify with the Pharisees as we read Jesus’ conflicts with them, so we know that this group of pilgrims is a safe one to join. Judging by this passage, that group of pilgrims is not just safe; it’s where the party’s at. And so we sing with gusto that triumphant line from the hymn Crown Him With Many Crowns: “Hail him as thy matchless king throughout eternity.”

For Jesus to be proclaimed King means God has set him apart, anointed him for his kingly mission. It also means that he must be listened to, must be obeyed, must be taken seriously.

If we take Jesus’ whole life as an indicator of the life of the kingdom that he proclaimed to be near, we can see contrasts at every point between what was accepted and what the kingdom norm is shown to be.

(A fuller explanation of the next two paragraphs can be found in Stanley Hauerwas’ The Peaceable Kingdom, chapter 5.)

For example, in Jesus’ shared meals with outcasts, “tax collectors and sinners,” we are shown that unlike the rule of this world, where you either select your friends based on what benefit they can give you or take meals with those who can get you a promotion, the kingdom of God allows for hospitality with people just because they are valued by God, whether or not they have status or are thought of as “the right crowd.”

In Jesus’ exorcisms and healings we see that unlike the rule of this world, where every type of evil overcomes us, ruining our motives for even the good that we might try to do, bringing selfishness and manipulation into our relationships, in the kingdom of God it is possible to have victory over this evil, because Jesus has defeated these powers. This, of course, is plainly seen in the cross and resurrection, where Jesus’ sacrifice and emptying of himself is seen to be more powerful than all the political and spiritual forces who tried to keep him down.

Jesus, the Mocked King

But we are aware that we live in a world where not everyone lives as if this kingdom were a reality. People still push each other around, manipulate one another, backstab, hold resentments, take power trips, ignore God. And not everyone along the road that day, or in the rest of Jerusalem that last week of Jesus’ life, proclaimed Jesus as king.

There were among the crowds Pharisees who thought they could appeal to Jesus to scold those who proclaimed him as king. Jesus, though, showing the necessity of the advance of the kingdom, says that even if the people weren’t shouting, the rocks would proclaim him as king – the kingdom of God is that all-encompassing.

But the full extent of the mockery of Jesus came to light later in the week. Two images stick in our heads. The first is of the soldiers who, having twisted a bunch of thorns into a makeshift crown, placed that crown on Jesus’ head, laughing at him and at the claim of the kingdom. They, of course, with their violent and polarizing ways, represent precisely the kingdom that usually reigns on earth. It is actions like these that represent everything Jesus’ life pointed away from. Where Jesus shows us God’s care for the downtrodden and weakest among us, the kingdom of this world - the rule of the Romans, the rule of Satan and evil – kicks the oppressed when they’re down. And we hang our heads as we realize just how like that our everyday dealings with one another can be.

The second image we remember, after the crown of thorns, is that sign they placed above Jesus’ head on the cross: “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” Another mocking look at what Jesus was doing and who he was shows us the world in stark contrast to the kingdom of God. Jesus, mocked and scorned and beaten, says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Apparently, not everyone in Jerusalem was proclaiming Jesus as king that day or that week.

False Witnesses

We are faced with this passage of scripture and must answer the question, “Which voice are we raising?” Are we rejoicing with the pilgrims on the road, proclaiming Jesus to be king? Or do we find ourselves joining with the mockers, making a joke of the words, “Jesus is king”?

You often hear of people saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” A parent saying this implies that saying and doing are two different things. We can possibly imagine someone telling another person to do something and doing the opposite himself. But when it comes to proclaiming Jesus as king, our actions are very important indeed.

Because Jesus’ kingship, the fact of him being Lord means we obey him. If he is our leader, we follow him. If he is our master, we serve at his pleasure. If we don’t live as if the kingdom is a reality, we prove our statement, “Jesus is Lord” to be false.

Stanley Hauerwas is a theologian who describes very well the nature of the kingdom and how we are to live in it. He has been called by Time magazine “America’s best theologian.” To this “honour” he replied, “Best is not a theological category! Faithful or unfaithful are the right categories.” He’s right. We are called to be faithful to the story of Jesus, faithful to the kingdom of God. Faithful witnesses is what Christians are meant to be.

If we find ourselves saying with our lips, “Lord, Lord, Jesus is Lord,” and showing by our actions that we don’t believe the world is a different place at all because of him, we are bearing false witness. If we don’t live as if there’s a bigger reality than the kingdoms of this world live by, we are no better than those Romans who nailed that sign above Jesus’ head on the cross. We say the words, but they don’t mean anything good.

Joining the Singing

We can only join in singing with the pilgrims on the road, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” if we are living a life that is in harmony with the statement that Jesus is Lord. We can live lives of truth and beauty, as God’s creatures, if we recognize that God’s kingdom is made real in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Then can we truly say, “Jesus is Lord.”

Followers of St Francis of Assisi know the quote, “Everywhere you go preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” This quote is very true, speaking truly of the witnesses we are called to be to the wonder and greatness and goodness of God who gave his Son for us and who has defeated the powers of this world with the most unlikely weapons of all: peace, forgiveness, selflessness, and sacrifice. All of these are found on the cross, and it is at the cross that we see our salvation and see truly that Jesus is King.

In the Meantime

In Luke, this passage begins with the time setting, “After saying these things.” If we look back at the previous verses to what Jesus had just said, we can find one last encouragement and challenge.

There, in the verses beginning at 11, Jesus tells the crowd a parable about a “man of noble birth” who goes to a distant country to be appointed as king. While he is away his servants are left with a pound each. This money is entrusted to them to do as they wish. Some are faithful to that trust, while others are not. The king commends those who are faithful to that trust.

As we go through this week, we contemplate Jesus going to a distant land (Jerusalem and the grave) to go through death and resurrection, where he obtains kingship (Romans 1:4) and one day will return. In the meantime, we are required to be faithful to the trust we have been given. “You will be my witnesses,” Jesus said (Acts 1:8). We are witnesses to Jesus’ life and to the kingdom of God. We are witnesses to Jesus being the true king.